Gun carriage



June 16, 1936.

A. P. BUQUOR GUN CARRIAGE Filed July 9, 1952 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 1054019 fi fuguor June 16, 1936. A, P. BUQUOR 2,044,278

GUN CARRIAGE Filed July 9, 1932 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 June 16, 1936. A BUQUOR 2,044,278

GUN CARRIAGE- Filed July 9, 1932 3 SheetsShee't 5 4 EI/7110i Patented June 16, 1936 UNITED STATES PATENT QFFIQE GUN CARRIAGE Delaware Application July 9, 1932, Serial No. 621,727

12 Claims.

This invention relates to gun carriages adapted for high speed and easy wheeling.

At the present time the Government of the United States has in its possession some thousands of horse drawn guns of the type known as '75 mm. While these guns are satisfactory in operation they have no practical utility for modern warfare for many reasons including, for instance, the fact that the artillery wheels thereon render them incapable of a speed of more than twelve miles per hour. For practical purposes, therefore, these guns must be transported on motor vehicles and removed therefrom at the place of combat which is awkward and tedious involving considerable man power.

The present invention is subordinate to a case filed simultaneously herewith and the claims hereof are restricted to structural dissimilarities.

An object of the present invention is to provide a unitary rocker arm provided with a fixed hub adapted to be slipped over the ends of the dead axle provided by the type of the gun referred to which rocker arms have stub axles for the reception of interchangeable wheels for independent rotation thereon. Each rocker arm or unit may freely rock around the dead axle when traversing rough ground without disturbing the position of the other adjacent rocker arm or unit.

' Another object of the invention is to provide a rocker arm of S-shaped formation and having the rearward extremity thereof of shorter length than the front extremity whereby, during recoil, the rear wheels may be lifted slightly from the ground without disturbing the front wheels so that after firing, the carriage assumes the same position on the ground avoiding the necessity of resighting.

Many other objects of the invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art from a reading of the following specification in conjunction with the drawings forming a part hereof in which Fig. -1 represents a gun in side elevation having my improved bogie attached thereto and in a position ready for firing; v

Fig. 2 is a side elevation showing the position of the gun when recoiling;

Fig. 3 is a detail view showing the divers positions the wheels may assume and the means for preventing the complete revolution of the rocker units in either direction;

Fig. 4 is a top view showing the S-shaped formation of the rocker units and the manner for accommodating the lateral movements of the shield;

Fig. 5 is a detail View of the rocker arm per se; and

Fig. 6 is a sectional View on line 6-6 of Fig. 5 showing the hub.

Referring now more particularly to the drawings, l represents a gun which may be of the French 75 mm. type. The numeral 2 is the gun trail adapted to be embedded in the ground when firing. After the artillery wheels have been removed, the rocker unit 3 is slipped over the ends of the axle 4. For that purpose a hub 5 is provided which preferably is fixedly secured or integral with the rocker arm or unit 3. This rocker arm is, as stated, of substantially S-shaped formation, having its rear portion 6 extending on the inside of the wheels 1 and having an outwardly extending stub axle 8 for interchangeably receiving the wheels I. These wheels are of customary type, such, for instance, as used on the modern Ford trucks. The unit, as thus described, may be placed upon the axle without any alteration whatsoever to the gun. The forward end of the rocker unit 9 extends on the outside of the wheel I!) and has an inwardly extending stub axle II, as shown, for interchangeably receiving the wheel. This permits a. sort of a. pocket l2 for accommodating the lateral movement of the shield l3 of the gun during the movements of the gun.

The purpose of providing rearward relatively short arms 6, as shown, is to avoid objectionable movement of the rear wheels during recoil. This movement simply causes the units to rock with the front wheels retaining their position on the ground so that after recoiling the gun assumes its same position on the ground, thus avoiding the necessity of resighting.

The rockable units, as described, permit the gun to be fired from any positions irrespective of the irregular contour of the ground thus avoiding the necessity of levelling off at each station of combat.

There are many advantages flowing from the use of these S-shaped adaptor units. Among these may be named 4 '(a) Firing directly from the wheels without entirely lifting the carriage from the ground;

(b) Permitting the gun to be towed at a high rate of speed, for instance, from thirty-five to fifty miles per hour;

(0) Easier wheeling;

(d) Requiring less motive or man power to move the guns; I

(e) Flexibility of gun carriage to move at high speed over rough ground and for firing directly they are atall times in contactwith the roadway irrespective of how rough it is;

(h) Permitting the lateral sliding movement of the gun carriage and the protecting shield without interference;

(2') Avoiding springs which would be afiected by road or firing shots;

(:i) Maintaining the gun barrel practically level when wheels are standing on rough, uneven ground because of the rocker'arm constructions and the individual independent axle for each wheel;

(k) Facilitating rolling; (2) Substituting straight pulling for and (m) Independent axles permitting the wheels to roll over road obstructions, ditches or any uneven ground with just one-half of the lifting required on a two wheel carrier. 1

Ordinary radius rods would cause a strain and binding of the sliding gun axle, and therefore I have devised anarrangement for preventing the complete revolution of the rocker arms in either direction and for yieldably cushioning the' extreme ends thereof, which arrangement does not interfere in any sense with the operation of the gun. This arrangement includes a. fixed shaft 14 lifting to the extreme ends of which are secured the chains l5 as at l6. Interposed within these lengths of chains are coiled springs H. The chains are provided with twoportions l8 and I9 attached to different portions of the rocker units as at 20 and 2|. As shown clearly in Fig. 3, the rocking movements of the rocker arm or adaptor are controlled'preventing undesirable movement will tend to lift the short end of the rocker allowing the long end thereof to remain on the ground, and the spring chain controls allow the wheel to run under if the weight is lifted from the short end during the recoil of the gun barrel. One pair of the wheels remains on the ground when firing thereby causing the gun to stay in the same position. The stub axle and rocker units maintain the gun level and only lift the gun one-half the height of the two artillery wheel type of gun. Therefore, there is less impact on the wheels and tires or road caused by the weight of the gun moving up and down with the contour of the road. The arrangement permits the wheels to meet the road surface at any angle without strain, twist or binding of the axle.

I am aware that many changes may be made in the construction and arrangement of parts without departing from the spirit of my invention as defined in the following claims.

I claim:

1. A gun carriage of the character described comprising in combination, a stationary axle having bearing portions and'normally receiving artillery wheels, rocker units positioned on the opposite ends of said axle for rotary movement relative to the axle, each of said rocker units being provided with a hub secured to. the rocker units for snugly engaging said bearing portion of said axle, said rocker units having forward and rearward extensions each provided with independent stub axles, and wheels mounted thereon for independent rotary movement, the transverse distance between wheels on opposite sides of said carriage being substantially the same as the transverse distance between said hubs.

2. As an article of manufacture, an S-shaped rocker unitof the character described having a hub fixedly secured thereto intermediate its end and having stub axles extending in opposite directions for receiving interchangeable rubber tiredwheels, said oppositely extending axles being positioned to cause said wheels to track.

'3. A gun carriage of the character described comprising, in combination, a stationary axle, a

rocker unit positioned on the opposite ends of said axle-for rotary movement relative to the axle, said rocker units being provided with hubs fixedly secured thereto and having elongated recesses for snugly engaging the axle extremities, said rocker units havingforward'and rearward extensions provided with independent stub axles, and rubber tired wheels mounted thereon for independent rotary movement, said rubber tired wheels being of a smaller size than the artillery wheels originally placed upon said stationary axle, and said fixedly'secured hub being disposed at such a distance above the rocker arms and the stub axles for the rubber tired, smaller sized wheels, that the substitution of the units is ef- I fected without changing the original height of the gun carriage, the traverse distance between wheels on opposite sides of said carriage being: substantially the same as the traverse distance between said hubs. a

4. Means for converting a horse-drawn gun carriage of the two artillery wheeled type into a high speed motorized job for firing directly from rubber tired wheels, said means comprising rocker arms having centrally arranged hub portions to receive and snugly engage the stationary axle extremities of the gun carriage to replace the artillery wheels'normally positioned thereon, said rocker arms having forwardly and rearwardly disposed extensions, independent stub axles provided upon each of said extensions for receiving interchangeable rubber tired wheels adapted for independent rotation on said stub axles, each of the rocker arm sand wheels being adapted for each having a pair of stub axles for receiving demountable rubber tired wheels thereon and said stub axles of each rocker arm extending in opposite directions and being positioned below the stationary axle, said wheels being positioned in tracking alignment.

6. A gun carriage of the character described comprising a stationary axle and a rocker unit on each end thereof, said rocker units being independently rotatable on said'axle and being of substantially S-shaped formation, stub axles provided at the forward and rearward portions of the rocker units and demountable rubber tired wheels thereon for independent rotary movement and being positioned below the stationary axle, said wheels being positioned in tracking alignment.

7. Rocker units adapted for attachment to axles, said units being of substantially S-shaped formation and being provided with independent stub axles and demountable wheels secured to said stub axles for independent rotary movement thereon, said wheels being positioned in tracking alignment.

8. A gun carriage of the character described comprising an axle having rockable units on the opposite ends thereof and provided with forwardly and rearwardly extending arms having stub axles, wheels mounted on said stub axles for independent rotary movement thereon, said rockable units being adapted to move independently of each other when traversing rough roads and flexible stop means for limiting the degree of such rocking action in either direction.

9. A gun carriage of the character described comprising an axle having rockable units on the opposite ends thereof and provided with forwardly and rearwardly extending arms having stub axles, wheels mounted on said stub axles for independent rotary movement thereon, said rockable units being adapted to move independently of each other when traversing rough roads and stop means for limiting the degree of such rocking ac- 1 tion in either direction, said stop means being of resilient character.

10. A gun carriage of the character described comprising an axle with rocker units mounted on each end thereof, said rocker units having forwardly and rearwardly extending arms provided with stub axles, wheels interchangeably secured on said stub axles and adapted for independent rotary movement, each of said units being rockable independently of the other, means for limiting the degree of such rocking movements, said means comprising a chain secured to different portions of said rocker units and a spring associated therewith for cushioning the units in their extreme positions.

11. A gun carriage of the character described comprising an axle, means for supporting the same by four independently rotatable wheels, said means comprising rockable units having hub portions adapted to be secured to the opposite ends of said shaft and freely rotatable relative thereto, and having forwardly and rearwardly extending portions, independent stub axles secured to said portions and. rubber tired wheels interchangeably mounted thereon, each of the units being adapted to rock independently of the other when traversing unequal road and without substantially raising the position of the gun, means for limiting the rocking action of said units, said means comprising a fixed transverse shaft, sleeves slidably mounted thereon to permit lateral movement of the gun and shield, flexible connections secured to the opposite ends of said shaft and to different portions of each of the rockable units respectively whereby to prevent the complete revolution of said unit in either direction.

12. A gun carriage of the character described comprising an axle, means for supporting the same by four independently rotatable wheels, said means comprising rockable units having hub portions adapted to be secured to the opposite ends of said shaft and freely rotatable relative thereto, and having forwardly and rearwardly extending portions, independent stub axles secured to said portions and rubber tired wheels interchangeably mounted thereon, each of the units being adapted to rock independently of the other when traversing unequal road and without substantially raising the position of the gun, means for limiting the rocking action of said units, said means comprising a fixed transverse shaft,

sleeves slidably mounted thereon to permit lateral movement of the gun and shield, flexible connections secured to the opposite ends of said shaft and to different portions of each of the rockable units respectively whereby to prevent the complete revolution of said unit in either direction, and cushioning devices associated with said chain for cushioning the final rocking movements of the units.

ADOLPH P. BUQUOR. 

